Richard Fox is not the kind of man to sit around
and wait for things to happen. Born in Long Melford, he began singing in the
church choir as a boy and sang in Bury Cathedral. He joined the RAF as an
apprentice when he was fifteen and a half. He stayed for two years and after
leaving he took a variety of jobs. In the early sixties he played for all
the local teams, including Sudbury, as a goalkeeper and then joined Charlton
Athletic for two seasons. Then he returned to his earlier interest and began
singing again. He worked for Warners as an entertainments manager at their
holiday camp in Dovercourt - the place where Hi-de-Hi was filmed and the
character of Mr Fox was based on him. He then went for an audition in London
to join the Tremeloes - a pop group very well known in the sixties - and
Richard went to Denmark with them. When he returned he had an offer from
Warners to join them in Spain where they were opening a large hotel. This
was in 1974 and Richard lived in Spain on and off for the next 30 years.
During that time he learnt the language fluently and had his own radio show.
He also appeared in numerous theatres in front of English and Spanish
audiences. It was Richard that re­introduced the ‘yes / no’ game that became
so popular in Spain. When a special open-air edition of Songs of Praise at
Palma Nova in Spain was shown on television Richard played a part in it. He
also met the King of Spain, Juan Carlos and on another occasion Queen
Sophia.

It was at Sudbury Secondary Modern School that
Richard first met his wife Gill and they went out together. However as is
often the case with young romances their paths separated and it was not
until 27 years later they were reunited when Richard was in a show at the
Quay theatre and Gill was part of the audience. They were married within 6
months of meeting again. It is a second marriage for both of them and they
each have two grown-up children. Gill spent 10 years in Spain with Richard
and her son now part owns a restaurant in Majorca so they still visit and
Richard does a few shows there.

Richard and Gill have now lived in Cornard for 7
years and Gill was born in Pot Kiln Road. Richard works at Stoke-by-Nayland
Golf Club as a starter and marshal at 2 courses. In January 2005 Richard did
a show at the Quay entitled ‘An evening wasted with Richard Fox and friends’
in aid of the Rainbow Ward at West Suffolk Hospital. The show was a
sell-out. He still does cabaret and after dinner speaking and if the energy
and enthusiasm he shows for all his activities is anything to go by he will
be entertaining people for many years to come.